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Wine Recommendation
Shady Lane Cellars
2005 Reserve Pinot Noir(Leelanau Peninsula)
Shady Lane's owners, Grand Rapids neurosurgeon, Joe O'Donnell, teamed with his fishing and hunting pal Bill Stouten, a Michigan real estate broker, must be well satisfied with their purchase of a century-old fruit farm outside Suttons Bay, Michigan, in the 1980s. Their estate-grown Pinot Noir, when barrel aged in 100 percent new French oak cooperage, is a delightful wine to pair with roast chicken, grilled portabella mushrooms or grilled wild caught salmon.
Vintage 2005 may well go down in the annals of Michigan's wine history as the best to date in the Leelanau Peninsula AVA. It shows in the fruit ripeness winemaker Adam Satchwell achieved for the 2005 Shady Lane Cellars Reserve Pinot Noir – and with only 140 cases produced, this wine will be quickly snapped up by the growing number of Michigan Pinot Noir aficionados.
Translucent, medium cherry in hue with aromas of dried rose petal, Traverse City cherries, mushrooms, dried forest floor leaves and bright cranberries. That's not only for its aroma profile but also its persistent flavors of Traverse City cherries, bright berry, truffles and hints of brown spice. Lengthy, well-structured and refined, this wine more than illustrates the promise of Burgundian-style Pinot Noir from Michigan's Leelanau Peninsula AVA.
Reviewed February 27, 2007 by Eleanor & Ray Heald.
Other Awards & Accolades
Silver Medal - 2007 Michigan Wine & Spirits Competition
Other reviewed wines from Shady Lane Cellars
The Wine
Winery: Shady Lane Cellars |
The Reviewer
Eleanor & Ray Heald
The Healds have been writing about wine since 1978 and have focused on appellation significance in many of their world beat writings. They value recognizing site personality (terroir) within an appellation's wines. They praise balance and elegance in wines styled to pair well with food and eschew over-extraction, high alcohol and heavy-handed oak. “Delicious” is their favorite descriptor for a great, well-made wine. |